This invention relates to an assembly tray, and more particularly to an assembly tray for holding tape cassette components which are assembled in an automated assembly line.
It is known in the art to hold many small articles in a single apparatus during the assembly or manufacturing of the articles using automated equipment. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,976,289 discloses a base frame supporting a "removable table top" which has a 6.times.10 grid for holding parts. In the U.S. Pat. No. 3,976,289 patent, the table top remains stationary during manufacturing operations on the articles while machinery underneath the table top moves the articles around the grid. After the manufacturing process has been completed on all of the articles on the table top, the entire table top can be removed and a new table top with unprocessed articles can be mounted on the base frame in its place. The apparatus disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,976,289 patent requires complex manuevering equipment in the base frame to make full use of the removable table top.
Another apparatus which is used for assembling articles is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,330,935. Specialized equipment is not required to move the articles assembled on the apparatus disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,330,935 patent; however, the applicability of this apparatus is limited to articles which are assembled in a certain manner. The apparatus disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,330,935 patent is a stationary V-shaped trough containing channels which align sub-assemblies or contact elements with a housing portion. After a contact element is added to a housing portion, the housing portion is slid along the V-shaped trough to the next position where another contact element is guided along the channels into the housing portion. This process is repeated until the housing portion reaches the end of the V-shaped trough at which point the assembly operation is completed. While it may be possible to perform other types of operations by removing partially assembled housing portions from the V-shaped trough, the apparatus does not facilitate these operations. In addition, the apparatus disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,330,935 patent is designed for empty housing portions to be inserted at one end and completely assembled units to be removed at the other end, rather than an apparatus which can be used to carry articles from one location to another like the removable table top in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,976,289 patent.
Other prior art devices move a table top underneath one or more articles which remain stationary relative to the top of the table. Examples of such devices can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,462,219 and 3,761,070. In the U.S. Pat. No. 3,761,070 patent, a gear rack is attached to the side of a table for indexing the table. In the U.S. Pat. No. 3,462,219 patent, tiny triangular truncated pyramids are provided on the bottom surface of a table top and the upper surface of the structure supporting the table top. The triangular pyramids permit 2-dimensional indexing. Neither the U.S. Pat. No. 3,761,070 or U.S. Pat. No. 3,462,219 patent discloses a removable table top nor any detail of the table top structure.
As indicated by the above examples, prior art work supports for assembling small articles tend to be limited in their applicability to particular situations or limited in their usefulness in automated manufacturing. Further examples of the latter are pallets and trays without any features which facilitate automated manufacturing.